Friends of Adem Uzun: Open Letter to the French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira

5 February 2013

Dear Mrs Christiane Taubira

The arrest of the prominent Kurdish peace advocate Adem Uzun in Paris last year came as a great shock to us all as it coincided with progress towards the opening of peace talks between Turkey and the Kurds.

Over 200 public figures, lawyers and politicians with expertise in the matter of the Kurdish question in Turkey and many community activists, grass-roots campaigners and trade unionists have come together to establish the “Friends of Adem Uzun” and support the call for Mr Uzun’s release. You will find our appeal and the lists of signatories to the initiative below and attached. We kindly urge you to take note of their strong collective voice.

Our familiarity with Adem’s role as a peace activist and as a politician with the Kurdistan National Congress, KNK, has led us to conclude that he is fully dedicated to achieving a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish question. He had been one of the key negotiators for the Kurdish side in the so-called “Oslo Process” which involved high-level Turkish Government representatives.

Hopes of a breakthrough in the talks are now a real possibility and whether this is likely to yield lasting results depends on the skill and determination of the negotiators.

We are convinced that Adem Uzun has a crucial part to play in these talks which have a long way to go before a settlement can be reached. As such we urge you to release him in order to enable him to resume his work that is beginning to bring about the lasting peace for which everyone is searching.

Initiative by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) UK

FREE ADEM UZUN

The Kurdish politician Adem Uzun was arrested in France on 6 October 2012. Having been denied bail, Adem remains in detention awaiting a trial which could be months away.

Adem Uzun is a prominent activist working to achieve peace through the resumption of negotiations between Turkey and the Kurds. A leading politician with the Kurdistan National Congress, KNK, Adem is well-known to anyone involved in the Kurdish issue, especially in the European Parliament, and has been one of the main Kurdish negotiators in the so-called “Oslo Process” with high-level Turkish Government’s representatives.

The charge against Adem Uzun is not supported by credible evidence. At the time of his arrest, Adem Uzun was in Paris to take part in preparations for a conference on Western Kurdistan (Syria), which was scheduled to take place on 13 October 2012.

We believe that the arrest of Adem Uzun, which has been made on Turkey’s request, is an attempt to undermine the search for a peaceful political resolution of the Kurdish question.

The prosecution intends to equate two separate organisations, the KNK with the PKK, in order to de-legitimise political efforts towards resolution of the conflict. This same tactic is today being used by Turkey to repress and silence the non-violent dissent of thousands of Kurdish politicians and activists.

The offence of belonging to a terrorist organisation in France and across the EU, is a highly politicised ‘crime by association’. It criminalises the entire Kurdish political movement by imputing activists to be the PKK, in the clear absence of any engagement in violence.

The EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) Conference, meeting in Brussels on 5th and 6th December, passed a special resolution calling on the French authorities to immediately release Adem Uzun. ‘’As a leading legitimate politician of the Kurdish political movement Mr. Uzun is well known for his advocacy of a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem for which he was chosen to be one of the negotiators in the Oslo Peace Talks,’’ the EUTCC stated. The resolution urged the ‘’expeditious conclusion to his case by dropping the accusations against him’’.

Adem Uzun is fully committed to a peaceful settlement and we are concerned that peace and reconciliation will be much harder to achieve without the expertise of such a seasoned activist.

We strongly reiterate the demand to French authorities for our friend Adem Uzun’s immediate release and for the dropping of the baseless accusations.

We urge everyone who is committed to a peaceful political resolution of the Kurdish conflict to declare themselves friends of Adem Uzun and to add your voice to the calls for his release.